Trees, Bugs and Serial Killers
by Traci
Summary: Grissom gets injured and Catherine takes over and while the team takes care of him someone has a major life realization. Also a serial killer is on the loose (what else is new in Vegas?) C/G UST/Friendship


Disclaimer: Not mine, pretend to own them... they belong to uh... Bruckheimer (is that how you spell it?), etc. I only wish they were mine. Sigh. If wishes were horses....  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Spoilers: None that I can think of but I haven't seen that many episodes yet.  
  
Category: Uh... C/G but more along the lines of what we see on tv with friendship and UST  
  
Author: Traci  
  
Summary: When Grissom is injured his team puts in overtime to take care of him. A major realization will hit one person.  
  
Author's Notes: See the end because if I say it here then it will give it away. But thanks again to Tracy L. for betaing for me. You really are a glutton for punishment, Tra.  
  
Archiving and feedback: Yes to archiving at graveshiftcsi and anywhere else - just let me know anywhere else and feedback craved at traci_ann@yahoo.com  
  
Trees, Bugs and Serial Killers  
  
Catherine Willow's pager beeped as the CSI team sat waiting for their boss, Gil Grissom. She looked at it then at her co-workers.  
  
"Catherine?" Warrick asked.   
  
"It's from Grissom," she told him, looking surprised. "He's at the hospital."  
  
Sara's eyes grew large. "Then we have to go there," she said, grabbing her coat and heading to the door.  
  
"Sara," Catherine's voice stopped her. "He said just me." Picking up her jacket, she looked around the room. "Uh, I guess your assignments are on his desk. I'll call as soon as I know something."  
  
The others sat in silence watching her leave.  
  
"Should we go anyway?" Nick Stokes asked.  
  
"Nah, if we did I'm sure we'd get our head chewed off by one or both of them," Warrick told them. "Besides, crime scenes wait for no man." Smiling at Sara's glare, he added, "Or woman."  
  
*************************  
  
Catherine ran up to the nurses' desk. "I'm looking for Gil Grissom's room."  
  
The nurse looked up. "Are you a relative?"  
  
She sighed. She knew this routine. "No, but he called me." Pulling out her identification, she showed it to the nurse. "We work together."  
  
Shaking her head, the nurse looked at her computer. "I'm sorry, but only relatives..." Looking up at Catherine once again, she asked, "What is your name?"  
  
"Catherine. Catherine Willows."  
  
Smiling, the nurse said, "He made sure you were listed here. He's in room 221."  
  
"Thank you." Her heart pounded as she made her way to the room. What was she going to find? Was it something to do with his recent hearing surgery? Had there been complications?   
  
Finally, she reached his room and hesitantly opened it, glancing in.   
  
"Catherine, what took you so long?" he asked from the bed.  
  
She smiled and walked in but stopped, taking in a sharp breath. "Gil! What happened to you?" In a second she was at his bedside.  
  
"Uh, it was my own fault," he admitted sheepishly. "There was this great specimen of a beetle in the tree and..."  
  
"You had to climb it to get it and this was the result," she chuckled.  
  
Looking a little sheepish, he softly replied, "Yeah."  
  
Catherine shook her head as she looked over her friend. A broken arm, broken leg and numerous bruises were visible. "How long are they keeping you?"  
  
"Too long," he mumbled.  
  
"If you keep up that attitude they'll kick you out sooner than you think," she grinned. "So. . .did you manage to get it?"  
  
He looked at her quizzically.  
  
"The beetle." She rolled her eyes. "The reason for you being here. Did you get it?"  
  
"No," he said, shaking his head. "Must have been his lucky day."  
  
Running her fingers through his disheveled hair, she asked, "What do you want me to tell the others?"  
  
"Can you make up an impressive story?"  
  
Trying to conceal a smile, Catherine shook her head, "Don't think so."  
  
"I guess the truth then. I'll be out of work for at least a month, which puts you in charge."   
  
"What about you?"  
  
"What about me?"  
  
"Someone has to look after you."  
  
"Ah, yeah. I guess I'll hire a nurse or something."  
  
"Nonsense." Catherine smiled at him. "I'm sure the others will agree that we take turns. That way you can stay in your own place with the people that know you best and won't run out in terror."  
  
He was about to angrily protest but realized she was probably right. With the amount of bugs in his collection most people would not wish to stay. "Alright, but only if the others agree. If they don't then it's a nurse."  
  
"Agreed." Catherine straightened his pillow for him. "I'd better get back to the office. Are you going to be alright for now?"  
  
He smiled at her. "I'll be fine. Thank you for coming by."  
  
"Wouldn't have missed this one for the world," she grinned then left.  
  
"And something tells me you're not going to let me live this down," he said softly to the empty room.  
  
*****************************  
  
Catherine walked into the lounge back at the office to find Nick and Sara arguing over their case.   
  
"It's so obvious he did it, Nick. The blood patterns don't match up to the theory of a stranger," she said.  
  
"Good night out there I see," Catherine stated, heading to the coffee machine.  
  
"How's Grissom?" Sara asked.  
  
"He's..." She paused, trying to figure out what to say. "He'll be out of work for about a month." As their shocked looks passed, she continued. "He's got a broken leg and broken arm."  
  
"What happened to him?" asked Nick.  
  
"He, uh... fell out of a tree."  
  
Sara stared at her. "A tree?"  
  
"Yeah. It could have happened to anyone," she lied, stirring her coffee. "So what's this case about?" she asked, sitting down trying to change the subject and spare Grissom some dignity.  
  
"Typical. Someone wins a couple thousand and ends up dead," Sara deadpanned. "How did he fall out of a tree?"  
  
"He climbed up and then gravity entered the equation," was Catherine's response.  
  
"But why was he in the tree?" Sara pushed.  
  
"I think that's up to him to say."  
  
Nick jumped in before anymore could be said. "I think we should see Greg. Maybe he's processed the evidence by now." He got up and walked to the doorway where he waited for Sara.   
  
She followed grudgingly, tossing Catherine a terse glance over her shoulder as she left.  
  
Catherine sighed but was soon interrupted by Warrick.  
  
"Hey, Catherine, how's Grissom?"  
  
"He'll live. He's got a broken arm and leg from falling out of a tree," she spat out hoping to avoid further questioning.  
  
"A tree?" he chuckled. "No doubt going after some creepy-crawly thing."  
  
Nearly dropping her coffee, Catherine hissed, "If you tell anyone I'll kill you before he has a chance to."  
  
Warrick turned and stared at her. "I was kidding. Are you serious? That's what happened?"  
  
Slowly she nodded.  
  
"Man. Probably won't stop him from doing it again though." He sat across from her.  
  
"Probably not." She took a sip of her coffee. "Hey, I was going to wait until we were all together but I may as well ask you right now. He's out of work for a month and needs someone around 24/7. I told him I'd talk it over with you guys about taking shifts instead of him hiring a nurse. Let's face it, how many people could really handle being surrounded by all those bugs in his apartment."  
  
Warrick smiled. "Not many. I'm in. Just let me know when."  
  
"Thanks," she smiled. "If the others agree to it then we can work out some kind of schedule."  
  
"So, are you working on anything right now?" he asked.   
  
"No. I just got back actually, why?"  
  
"This murder in an alley off the Strip. There's something familiar about it but I can't pinpoint it. Feel like helping?"  
  
"Sure, lay it on me."  
  
*****************************  
  
Over the next three days, the members of Grissom's CSI team made frequent stops by the hospital to see him. Nick and Sara had finished up their case and were now helping Warrick and Catherine, both of whom were frustrated by the lack of evidence of an apparent copycat serial killer.  
  
Catherine was sitting on the edge of Grissom's bed on the day of his release.   
  
"Any luck with the case?" he asked after she had remained silent for some time.  
  
"No. Nothing. Three more murders but nothing. Whoever he is, he's good," she sighed. "Any ideas?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, sorry. But you're good, Cath. You guys will come up with something soon. How's work been, aside from that?"  
  
"Pretty quiet actually. Guess the criminals are all taking a vacation."  
  
The doctor came in. "Well, Mr. Grissom, seems the nurses' are out there ready to throw a party after you leave."  
  
Grissom blushed as Catherine laughed. "I haven't been that bad," he defended.  
  
Catherine bit her tongue.  
  
The doctor looked to Catherine. "He's all your problem now," he grinned. "If you need anything call." He handed her his pager number. "I've also included the number to call if either of you should decide on hiring a nurse instead."  
  
A moment later a nurse appeared with a wheelchair. She and the doctor helped Grissom in it and Catherine walked beside him as he was wheeled down the hallway and out to her SUV.  
  
**********************  
  
A short time later, Catherine pulled up outside his apartment building. Within half an hour, she had him settled in.   
  
"I'm going to run out and get some food and such. Will you be okay while I'm gone?" she asked.  
  
He nodded. "But you need to sleep sometime. Let the food wait."  
  
She laughed. "Gil, I'm a mother, I work fulltime and I used to be a dancer. Trust me, I know how to get by on little to no sleep. I'll be back in about an hour."  
  
Grissom smiled at her. "I'll try not to get into too much trouble while you're gone."  
  
*******************  
  
A schedule had been worked out among the CSI group and it was Sara's turn to stay with Grissom.   
  
It was the beginning of the second week after his accident and still only Warrick and Catherine knew the reason why Grissom had been in the tree in the first place.  
  
Warrick answered the knock at the door and made his escape gratefully. "Good luck," he whispered as he left.  
  
With a smile, she locked the door behind her and found Grissom hunched over his desk looking through a microscope.  
  
"Must be fascinating," she commented.  
  
Without looking up, he answered, "Yes, it is. It's a rare arachnid from a remote jungle in Peru."   
  
"Ah, the Peruvian arachnid."  
  
Turning off the light on the microscope, he turned towards her. "Any cases you guys need help on?"  
  
Shaking her head, she sat down on his couch. "No, everything's under control. Greg's a little backed up but that's not necessarily anything unusual." She looked at him. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Like I'll never make the mistake of chasing something up a tree again."  
  
Sara's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"  
  
His jaw dropped. He hadn't realized she didn't know why he'd been in the tree. "Um..."  
  
"Griss?"  
  
Sighing, he confessed, "I was up in the tree trying to catch a bug."  
  
"You're kidding, right?" When his expression didn't change, she said, "I can't believe you. Why on earth would... never mind." A smile formed on her lips. "All this for a bug?"  
  
He sheepishly nodded. "Really, there's not much to do around here. I can take care of myself now."  
  
"Nope. I'm not going to be the one blamed if you hurt yourself again." Looking at her watch, she said, "It's dinnertime. Have you eaten yet, 'cause I'm starving."  
  
"No. You know where everything is, so help yourself."  
  
Sara returned to the living room twenty minutes later with two plates in hand. Placing one on the table in front of Grissom, he stared at it.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Eggplant parmesan," she announced proudly.  
  
Inwardly he groaned. He had forgotten she was a vegetarian. And since she had gone to so much trouble and was really doing him a favour by staying with him, he realised he had no choice but to eat it. Plastering a smile on his face, he chocked down the first mouthful.  
  
***********************  
  
Catherine was going over the evidence of the serial killings in Grissom's office when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.  
  
"Catherine?"  
  
"Hey, Nick."  
  
"Greg wants to see us. He thinks he may have found something on that killer."  
  
"Great!"   
  
***********************  
  
They found Greg looking through the microscope with Sara and Warrick standing next to his desk.  
  
"So you see," he was saying, "The fibers..." He stopped when Catherine and Nick walked in. "Hey, just in time for the lesson," he grinned.  
  
"Just tell me you know who it is," Catherine pleaded.  
  
"Well, not exactly. I did, however, manage to find a fiber that is present on all the victims. It's a rare silk blend."  
  
Catherine turned to Nick. "Think you can check it out?"  
  
"Not so fast," Greg stopped her. "It's a rare blend that hasn't been produced since 1927."  
  
Warrick sighed. "So we're back to nothing."  
  
"Not necessarily," Gregg added. "Even when this material was produced, only a few people could afford the clothing line."  
  
"So... if we find out what cities the line was sent to we might be able to at least narrow it down," Sara continued.   
  
"Unless this person bought it at a thrift store or found it," Nick said.  
  
Catherine's cell phone rang. When she hung up, she looked to Warrick and Nick. "I need you both to get to the Lucky Draw Saloon. There's been a murder." She then turned to Sara. "Sara, it's your turn to stay with Grissom. You can research that clothing line from there. Maybe Grissom can help." Catherine grinned. "He's in rare form today."  
  
"Wonderful," she said, rolling her eyes.  
  
*************************  
  
"Body's in the alley," the officer told the CSI's as they approached. "Pretty bad too."  
  
Pulling on their latex gloves, they followed the officer.  
  
"Ugh," Nick groaned and turned his head for a moment.  
  
The body was lying half beneath the dumpster. Flies had already begun to gather around the corpse.   
  
Warrick crouched down to get a closer look while Nick took the crime scene photographs.  
  
"It's our serial killer," Warrick said.  
  
"I'll call Catherine," Nick offered already pulling out his cell phone.  
  
***************************  
  
"Ugh, why can't I find anything?" Sara yelled. She had spent the last hour researching the fiber on the internet and had found nothing.  
  
Grissom was sitting beside her on the couch. "Did you find out what happened to the manufacturing company?"  
  
"Yeah. Shut down in 1954." She sighed. "All I've been able to find out is the company is closed and the clothing line was only ever distributed in New York and L.A."  
  
"It's a start," he offered.   
  
"I should be able to find more. This isn't going to help at all."  
  
"Stop being so hard on yourself, Sara."  
  
She looked at him and he smiled at her.   
  
"You are one of the best. I wouldn't have you on my team if you weren't. Not all cases are solvable and some take more time than others. It took the feds nearly thirty years to catch Kazyncski."  
  
Sara smiled back. "I guess you're right. Can I get you anything? Do you want something to drink or eat?"  
  
He shuddered at the thought of more rabbit food. "No, I'm fine. Thanks." Just then his phone rang.   
  
"Hi," he said. "No, that's not a problem at all... I'm sure.... I'll let her know. Bye." He hung up and turned to Sara. "That was Nick. There's been another victim and they need you at the scene."  
  
"But what about you?"  
  
"I'll be fine," he grinned. "How much trouble do you really think I can get into?"  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want me to answer that?"  
  
"No, probably best that you don't. Really, Sara, I'll be fine. I know where to reach any one of you if I need anything."  
  
She nodded and left.  
  
*******************************  
  
By the time Sara arrived at the scene, Catherine had just pulled up.   
  
"What are you doing here?" Catherine asked.  
  
"Nick called. Said he needed me here too. Grissom said he'd be alright."  
  
Catherine smiled at the worry on Sara's face. "I'm sure he'll be fine."  
  
"Why didn't you tell us he was chasing after a bug, by the way?"  
  
"He told you I take it?" she chuckled.  
  
"Well, not really. It sort of slipped out the other night."  
  
"Ah," Catherine smiled inwardly. " I was trying to save him a little dignity."  
  
They walked in silence until they got to the alley. "Do you want to take the inside or out?" Sara asked.  
  
"I'll take in unless you have a preference."  
  
She shook her head. "That's fine."  
  
The team spent three hours at the scene before Nick and Sara left to take evidence to the lab.  
  
Warrick stood in the doorway of the backroom where Catherine was still searching. "If we don't catch this guy soon..."  
  
"We will," she told him. "We have to."  
  
***********************  
  
"How's the case going?" Grissom asked Catherine over the phone.  
  
"About the same." Her frustration echoed in her voice.  
  
"If you want to send over all the info..."  
  
She smiled. "You're recovering, Gil. No."  
  
"Hey, I was thinking..."  
  
"Uh-oh."  
  
"Ha ha, very funny. Anyway, what I was thinking was that it's summer and if you need some place for Lindsey to stay..."  
  
"The two of you together?" she asked, teasing him. "I don't know if the world could handle that."  
  
"Cath, I'm being serious."  
  
"I know. Let me talk to her about it today but I have a feeling she'll jump at the chance." She paused. "You're that bored, huh?"  
  
"Stir-crazy would be another good word for it," he admitted. "Seriously, if you want to bring over what you have so far on the case I'd be more than happy to see what I can find."  
  
"Gil, you can't even type right now."  
  
"My left arm isn't broken."  
  
"No. You're under strict orders to take it easy, Mister." She decided to change the subject before he had a chance to argue with her some more. "I'll be over later. Do you want anything special, food wise?"  
  
"No, whatever you feel like is fine."  
  
"Okay, I'll see you later then."  
  
Just as she hung up, Sara ran into the office. "We have him!"  
  
**********************  
  
Four days had passed since the police had arrested the serial killer. Sara sat on Grissom's couch watching television while he entertained himself with a rather large beetle.  
  
"Did you know they can travel twenty miles a day?" he asked.  
  
"Uh, wow. That... that's fascinating."  
  
He looked over his glasses at her. "You don't care in the least, do you?" he grinned.  
  
"I'd love to say yes but... well, they're bugs."  
  
Shaking his head, his attention returned to his beetle. "These 'bugs' can tell us a lot. They can tell us how long a person has been dead, under what conditions..."  
  
"I know, I know," she conceded. "But they're still bugs."  
  
There was a knock at the door and before she had a chance to answer it, it swung open and Catherine walked in.  
  
Sara jumped up and went to gather her things. When she looked up she saw Catherine standing hunched over next to Grissom, who was seated. A tinge of jealousy ran through her. Why couldn't she connect with Grissom the same way?  
  
"Wow, a Brazilian Beetle, Gil."  
  
Sara's jaw tightened slightly as she watched the two of them interact. Grissom's face was lit up as he excitedly explained the beetle's finer points, and Catherine was standing there acting as if they were the most fascinating things in the world to her. And although she detested bugs as much as Sara did, she was doing it for Grissom because it made him happy. The thought crossed her mind that maybe if she'd shown more of an interest in his creepy-crawlies. . .she shook her head with a wry smile as she was hit with a realization. It wouldn't matter how much interest she'd shown in Grissom or his bugs, because it would never have been reciprocated. There was only one person in the world that made his face light up like it currently was, and it wasn't her. It had never been her. It had always been the woman who presently stood beside him... and it always would be.  
  
"Hey, Cath, I was thinking you and Lindsey could stay for dinner and we could grill some steaks."  
  
"She'd love that though I think she'd rather get Polish Sausages. Seems someone who shall remain nameless..." she said raising an eyebrow, "has gotten her hooked on them."  
  
Grissom had the good sense to look abashed. "Greasy Polish Sausages it is then."  
  
Sara watched for a few more moments as the bug talk was abandoned and plans for dinner were made. The air of exclusion that always seemed to enclose Catherine and Grissom whenever they were together hit her hard, and for the first time she was fully conscious of not belonging. Her presence all but forgotten, she quietly left the apartment. The sun was just starting to come up when she stepped outside.   
  
"Hey."  
  
Her eyes widened at the sudden voice. "Nick! What are you doing here?"  
  
"I, uh, thought maybe you'd want to grab breakfast or something. I just got done work and knew you were done your shift here..."  
  
She smiled at him. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks." Passing a quick glance back at the apartment door, she turned back to Nick. "Nick?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How do you feel about bugs?"   
  
The End   
  
Okay..here are the author's notes. This by no means was meant to be a bash-Sara piece. It was just observations on the different personalities and such and there are just some women that, by nature, try to change the men they date or are interested in. It's no fault of their own. I just sort of picked up on that about Sara in the episode where she found out about Hank. That's all. And besides... I gave her Nick in the end hehehehe (not a bad trade-off). 


End file.
